MOSCOW, August 11 (RAPSI) - Egyptian officials banned Human Rights Watch (HRW) directors from entering the country, Reuter reports citing a statement by the human right activists.

HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth and Middle East Director Sarah Leah Whitson were planning a trip to Egypt to participate in the publication of a report on the mass murder of protesters by Egyptian security services during last year’s protests.

The directors were detained at Cairo International Airport last night. Whitson has already been sent home “for security reasons.” Roth is expected to leave soon.

In July 2013, the Egyptian army, in response to the public’s discontent with a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in power, deposed president Mohamed Morsi and announced that the country was in a transition period. Morsi’s supporters organized mass protests demanding he be returned to power. The protests grew into public riots and clashes with police that killed hundreds of Egyptians.